United
by Sage Writings
Summary: Slightly AU. One night, one dance changed everything for Lauren Strucker. On the run, the teen mutant meets the one person who can calm the destruction that has become her life. [Slow burn Lauren/John] [All characters belong to The Gifted]
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1 - New Beginnings

Lauren Strucker's arm shot out as the portal closed, her father disappearing mere inches from her grasp. A tear came to her eye immediately and rolled down her cheek before she wiped it away stubbornly. No, she didn't have the luxury to cry. The teen turned, seeing her mother and brother frozen as they stared ahead. "I-Is she o-okay?" she asked as the dark haired woman collapsed into another man's arms.

"I'm not sure," Marcos replied, looking over Clarice's pale face. "I think she may be exhausted."

"I'm sure she is," John snapped as he crossed the room and looked her over. "Let's get her to one of the cots. Dreamer can watch over her until she wakes up."

"Wh-What about Reed?!" Caitlin Strucker found her voice. "What about my husband?!"

"There's nothing we can do about him now," John turned back to her as Marcos carried Clarice downstairs.

"We can't just leave him there!" the frantic wife exclaimed. "He could die!"

" _We_ could die if we go back now."

"But-"

"Mom," Lauren interjected, reaching over and placing a hand on her mother's arm. "He's right. You saw those things that were chasing us..."

Her mother took a deep breath. "We can't just sit back and do nothing!"

"We're not," the blonde replied patiently. "It's too dangerous right now, but in the morning we can figure something out." Talking her mother down was the only thing keeping her from panicking herself. Logic appealed to Lauren. Her mother was emotional while she was practical. If they were to go back now, they'd all die. Resting up and developing a plan was the better alternative.

"Your daughter is right," John spoke up, running his hand over his head. "We will try our best to get your husband back safely."

Lauren smiled softly at the older man as he ushered her mother away and motioned to two cots in the corner. "Come on, Andy." Her sisterly duties kicked in as she pulled her still mute brother to his feet and pushed him towards the cot. "You need some rest." Now she was sounding like her mother. Once he was seated, she flopped back onto the cot and took a deep breath.

Her hand came to her forehead as the events of the past couple of days came to mind. How did everything get so bad so fast? It was only supposed to be a dance. A stupid, high school dance.

"It's my fault, you know," Andy mumbled as if he'd been reading her mind.

"What is?"

"Dad...this...all of it," her brother mumbled as he looked around the strange area. "It's all my fault."

"It's not your fault..."

"Yes it is!"

"Careful," Lauren warned as the window panes shook slightly. After a moment of silence, she spoke again. "I should have told you sooner..."

"Why _didn't_ you tell me?" Andy inquired as he turned to face his sister. "What, did you think I was going to turn you in or something?"

The blonde shrugged as she looked down to her fingers, twining them together nervously. "No...I don't know... I just...I didn't want anyone to know, okay? You see how everybody acts! They treat us like we're freaks or something! We're not freaks, we're just..."

"Different," he finished quietly, looking down.

"Yeah..."

Andy stared at the floor for several minutes. "What do you think is going to happen to Dad?"

"He's going to be fine." Honestly, Lauren wasn't sure what would become of their father, but she couldn't let Andy know that. She had to be strong for him. She couldn't let him fall apart; he had already been through enough.

Her brother bit his lip, glancing over his shoulder as he shifted on the cot. "Do you think we can trust these people?"

"That's a stupid question," the teen frowned. "They got us this far, didn't they? They saved us from those...those...things! They're just like us, Andy! Why wouldn't they help us?"

"I don't know! We don't know who we can trust!"

"We can trust them," Lauren replied determinedly. "Now get some sleep." She turned onto her side, putting her back to him. She didn't mean to give Andy the cold shoulder, but she didn't have the energy to talk him through this. She needed to process it all herself before she could help Andy deal. Not only was her ability exposed, but now her brother had destroyed the school, they were on the run, and her father was in the hands of the Sentinel Services. Lauren closed her eyes tightly, trying to force sleep to take her, but her body would not cooperate.

Andy, on the other hand, was out like a light. The days had really taken a toll on him.

Lauren remembered feeling exhausted when first discovering her abilities. If only she could do things differently. She would have told her parents the second she knew that she was a mutant. Then they could have been monitoring Andy, and they wouldn't be here now. Separated. Her father possibly being tortured because of her. The teen let out a heavy sigh and pushed herself up from the cot. It was clear she wouldn't be sleeping anytime soon.

The blonde cast a look to Andy before tip-toeing around the unfamiliar area. Where were they anyway? It seemed to be some run down warehouse turned...hide out? Cots scattered the downstairs area along with a makeshift kitchen area and a couple of closed doors, hopefully being bathrooms. Up here though was different. A desk, a couch, and a couple of cots. Clearly they were in a more secluded space. Maybe the secret meetings happened up here or something.

"Hey, you," Lauren cooed as a black and white collie trotted over to her with a chew toy. "What are you doing in a place like this?" she asked as she ruffled the dog's ear.

"She just showed up one day," a male voice spoke up.

The teen looked up and met John's gaze. "Is she yours?"

"She belongs to everybody," John shrugged, then cleared his throat. "I'm John, by the way..." The events of the day hadn't really allowed formal introductions.

"Lauren."

He nodded, studying her closely as she stroked the dog. "Thanks for helping us out today."

"Thank you for giving us a place to stay."

"Marcos didn't really give us much of a choice," the older man mumbled to himself before walking over and offering her a bottle of water.

"Thanks." Lauren twisted the cap as her gaze flicked over the area. "Are you the leader of this place?"

"I guess you could say that," he shrugged before dropping into the desk chair heavily.

The teen looked to her water bottle, swirling the liquid inside. "Why do they hate us so much?"

John pursed his lips a moment before speaking. "It's the fear of the unknown. Society fears what they can't understand. They automatically assume it's a threat, even if they don't know what it is."

Lauren nodded slowly. It made sense. "The woman who helped us... Clarice? I-Is she going to be okay?"

"Yeah, she'll be fine. She just overexerted herself today. It takes a lot to hold a portal open for six people."

Six, not seven.

The blonde bit her lip. "What's going to happen to my dad?"

John met her scared gaze before clearing his throat and pushing away from the desk. "Your mom and Marcos are discussing that now. You should get some rest though. It's been a long day."

"Right," Lauren rolled her eyes as she pushed herself to her feet. Get some rest, get some rest. She was always being told to get some rest. They didn't care if she was rested or not; they were dismissing her from the adult worries and concerns. Despite being nearly eighteen, she was still being treated like a child. You'd think having a mutant ability would set her apart.

It wasn't like she was the one who had destroyed the school.

"Lauren?" John disrupted her thoughts.

"Yeah?" she asked, looking over her shoulder and meeting his gaze.

"We're going to get your dad back. I promise."

Something in his eyes told her that he meant it. No matter what it took, he would bring her family back together. And for the first time in a long time, Lauren felt safe.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N - Hey readers! I'm so sorry for posting the first chapter, then disappearing for a couple of months. I had an injury at work a few days after posting the chapter, and it's been a long, long process since then :( But, I think I'm on the mend now, so updates should come more frequently :)**

* * *

Chapter 2 - A Shoulder to Lean On

"Lauren. Lauren, wake up. Lauren!"

The blonde jarred from her sleep, her brother slowly coming into focus. "Go to sleep, Andy," she groaned, turning over and promptly rolling off the cot onto the hard ground. "Ow!" The teen pushed herself into a sitting position, rubbing the bandage around her forearm as the previous days events returned to her mind.

A simple school dance had revealed her brother's mutant abilities and sent her family on the run. Their dad had arranged a way to get them safely across the border, but Sentinel Services were on their heels. And now her father was gone, probably being held in a mutant facility somewhere.

"Lauren!" Andy hissed, bringing her back to reality.

"What?!"

"It's that woman," her brother lowered his voice as he kneeled beside her. "Clarice. Somethings wrong with her."

"What do you mean wrong with her?"

"Mom says she's sick or something."

Lauren glanced up as her mother's elevated voice flowed upstairs. "Come on," she pushed herself to her feet and moved downstairs, joining the others.

"She's burning up!" Caitlin exclaimed, pressing the back of her hand to the woman's head. "A fever is a sign of an infection! Her breathing is labored, and her pupils are dilated!"

"She just over exerted herself," Marcos frowned. "She'll be fine."

"We don't know that!" the Strucker woman argued. "Her body is weakened from using her abilities, and now with this fever..."

"What are you saying?" John intercepted as the woman trailed off.

"She could die! She needs a hospital!"

"The last place we can go is a hospital!" Marcos shot back.

Lauren lingered back as her mother spouted off numerous meds the woman needed that could only be found in a hospital. "Guys," she stepped forward as the woman writhed, her hands pointing towards the far wall and opening a portal. "Guys!"

The arguing ceased as the others took notice of what was happening.

"Where is that?" Andy inquired as a road opened before them.

"Look out!" Marcos shouted as a truck came speeding around the corner, slamming on the brakes as the driver noticed the portal.

"Andy!" Lauren exclaimed, throwing herself against him as the truck turned, spinning into the mutant underground.

"Lauren!" John launched himself across the room, putting himself between the girl and the truck as the vehicle sliced in half and the portal closed.

"Woah," the blonde turned wide eyes to the older man.

"Everybody okay?"

The others spoke up one by one as Lauren's attention was focused on the man before her. "What are you?" The words tumbled from her lips as her eyes roamed his chest and shoulders. Instinctively she reached out, pressing my hand to his upper arm. "That truck hit you. It freaking hit you!" How was he not hurt?! She had felt the force of the impact, how was he not crushed?!

John held her gaze a moment before looking down to her hand, causing the girl to pull away. "It's my abilities," he said simply before moving to Clarice's side.

The teen's gaze followed him before snapping from the trance and turning to her brother. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, no thanks to you."

"I pushed you out of the way!"

"Yeah, and then you started making heart eyes at John."

"Shut up!" Lauren punched him in the shoulder before turning and joining the others.

"This is going to keep happening if we don't get her the medicine she needs," Caitlin stressed, motioning to the back end of the truck that had overturned a few cots. "This whole place you've created will be destroyed."

John and Marcos exchanged glances. "She has a point," John sighed heavily, bringing his fingers to the bridge of his nose.

"We can't just waltz into the hospital and order a few vials of medication," Marcos countered.

"Guys, it's happening again!" Andy exclaimed as Clarice jerked once more, another portal opening. "It's that same road."

"And we have company this time," John cringed as men gathered in the middle of the road.

"I'll handle them," Marcos lifted a hand.

"Not yet. We're not sure they're hostile."

"Does that answer your question?" he raised a eyebrow as one of the men pulled a rifle from the back of his pick up.

Lauren bit her lip, studying the edges of the portal. It wasn't much different than anything else, right? She had fine tuned her abilities to shift anything with a definite edge, anything that could be moved. If a portal could open, then it could be closed too. "Wait!" The teen stepped in front of Marcos, holding up her hands and focusing on the glowing edges of the portal. She focused on pushing the edges together, moments later closing the portal.

"Wow," John mused, clearly impressed as the others stood in shock.

"Can you do that again?" Marcos turned to her.

"Yeah...I think so," Lauren nodded.

The older man nodded. "Good. John, you keep an eye on Clarice, Lauren, you do...whatever you just did, and Caitlin and I will get the medicine."

"I'm not leaving my children here!" Caitlin protested.

"Mom!" Lauren walked over to her. "Andy and I are wanted, remember? We're safer here than anywhere else."

"But what if another portal opens?"

The corner of the blonde's mouth turned up. "I've got this. I can do this." Her eyes shifted to Clarice. "She's going to die if you don't get her the meds she needs. You took an oath, remember?"

"Don't use my oath against me," Caitlin took her daughter in her arms and kissed her temple before hugging her son as well. "I'll be back soon."

The teen released a short breath before turning her attention to Clarice, putting her hand to the woman's forehead. "I don't guess you have any ice?"

"No, why?" John asked as he shifted onto a nearby bench.

"When Andy and I were little, mom always put ice packs under our arms to help break our fever..."

"That's because we were sick," Andy interrupted, "just like Clarice. She's sick, Lauren. Ice packs aren't going to help."

"I know she's sick," his sister swatted his arm, "but if we can lower her body temperature even a little, maybe the portals would stop! You saw those men! They might shoot at us next time!"

"It's worth a shot," John interrupted the bickering siblings. "We don't have ice, but will cool cloths help?"

"Something is better than nothing."

The older man looked to Andy. "Down the hall there's a bathroom. Under the sink there's a few rags; wet them and bring them to Lauren."

"I'm on it."

The blonde smiled softly to herself; he had remembered her name. "I've got it," she jarred from the daydream as Clarice writhed once more, opening a portal to the random road.

"It was harder that time?" John questioned, noticing the teen struggle a bit.

"Just a little," Lauren admitted.

"She's had her abilities longer."

"Thanks," she smiled shly at him, looking back to Clarice. Lauren appreciated that; her parents were always trying to baby her and 'keep her safe,' but John acknowledged that she could actually do something. She didn't always need protecting.

"Here, here, I've got it," Andy returned, thrusting the rags into his sister's hands.

"Do you want to be a nurse like your mom?" John inquired as he watched the girl expertly place the rags under Clarice's arms and apply one to the woman's forehead.

"No... I just kind of picked up a few things over the years."

"John!" Sage interrupted the three. "You've got to come see this."

John looked to the woman a moment before looking to Lauren. "Are you going to be okay?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine," she nodded after taking a breath.

"I'll be back as soon as I can."

Once John was out of sight, Andy looked to his sister. "I saw some computers when I was getting those rags."

"Okay?"

"Do you think they have wifi?"

"Andy!"

"What? I was just wondering."

" _If_ they have internet access, I'm sure they're using it to monitor Sentinel Services," Lauren reasoned as she took John's seat, "not check Facebook."

"They can monitor Sentinel Services all they want," her brother replied, "but I'd like to check Facebook."

"You only have ten friends."

Andy frowned before looking down. "I wanted to see what the school page was saying about us..."

"It's probably best we don't know." Lauren hesitated, biting her lip. "I'm sorry about the whole friend thing." The sibling jab had just come out, but considering Andy's history of being bullied... "I'm really sorry."

"It's okay, don't worry about it." Andy gave her a shy smile before shifting his gaze. "It's happening again!"

The blonde jumped up, moving closer to the open portal. Her eyes narrowed as her gaze focused on the edges. Push the edges together, thats all. She held up her hands, moving them together slowly.

Except this time, it felt like she was pushing rock. The edges weren't giving like they normally did. This time Lauren could feel a force pushing against her. "It's not working!"

"Just try harder!"

Lauren grit her teeth together, directing more energy into her fingertips. "I...can't..."

The men on the road watched her a few seconds before drawing their rifles.

"Just keep trying!" Andy encouraged. "You can do this."

"I...am...trying!" Lauren grunted, the force ripping free from her powers and knocking her back.

Into the arms of John. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I just...I can't close it..."

The two looked up as Andy yelled out, thrusting his arms down and throwing the men aside. The portal closed as papers flew in the compound and the table holding Clarice clattered to the ground. Lauren moved to her brother's side as John checked on Clarice. Once making sure Andy was fine, the blonde joined the older man. "How is she?"

"She's fine, for now," John looked over to her, his gaze narrowing. "You're hurt."

Lauren looked down to her arm, fresh blood on the bandage. "This is from yesterday, I'm fine."

"Andy, can you watch Clarice a minute?"

"Yeah."

"Come with me." John motioned for her to follow him, heading towards the stairs without glancing back. "Sit there," he motioned to his desk as he moved to a filing cabinet and took out a metal box.

The teen hesitated a moment before sitting on top of his desk, letting her legs dangle. "I'm really fine."

"I know." He gave her a little smirk before unwrapping the gauze from her arm. "What happened?"

"It was stupid," she shrugged, hoping he'd drop it. Instead, he raised an expectant eyebrow. "I was trying to get Andy to focus his powers on this vending machine..."

"Free snacks?"

"Right," she smirked before continuing. "He ended up breaking...well, exploding the whole machine, and I got cut."

"The force of your powers reopened the wound," he observed as he set the gauze aside and picked up a bottle of alcohol. "This is probably going to hurt."

Lauren cried out as he poured a generous amount on her arm, but stopped short when he blew gently on the area. Her teeth sank into her bottom lip as she stared at his slightly parted lips. Something about this man really grabbed her attention. "Huh?" she shook the thoughts away as he looked at her.

"Are you okay?" John repeated, studying her.

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"You say that a lot, don't you?" he inquired as he used a cotton ball to dab some ointment on her arm. "Say that you're fine? Even when you're not."

"I'm the older sibling, I have to be fine," she shrugged as he wrapped her arm with new gauze.

John nodded knowingly. "You can be honest with me, Lauren. I'm here to help."

Her eyes met his, seeing the meaning in his depths. "Thank you, John." It felt nice to have someone on her side. Lauren loved her family to pieces, but her parents were always smothering her, and Andy usually needed something. For once, she had a shoulder to lean on.

And as the days passed, Lauren would need him more than she ever knew.


End file.
